Home Traffic SD62 portables on the move in Colwood & Langford with budget implications

SD62 portables on the move in Colwood & Langford with budget implications

Wide loads will slow traffic on June 6 & 7, but this is more than a traffic advisory story.

Island Social Trends

June 5, 2024

david cameron, belmont — Portable classroom will be moved from David Cameron Elementary in Colwood to Belmont Secondary in Langford on June 7, 2024. [Colwood Engineering]

Wednesday June 5, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated June 10, 2024]

by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends | Island Social Trends Traffic Updates Page

Sooke School District 62 (SD62) portables will be on the move between schools within the west shore this week.

Portables will be loaded onto flat bed trucks for relocation as follows:

From David Cameron Elementary to Sangster Elementary (both in Colwood) – Thurs June 6 [bringing total portables at Sangster to five]
From David Cameron Elementary (Colwood) to Millstream Elementary (Langford) – Thurs June 6 [bringing total portables at Millstream to five]
From David Cameron Elementary (Colwood) to Belmont Secondary (Langford) – Fri June 7 [bringing total portables at Belmont to five]

Commuters and other drivers may wish to take note of the single-lane traffic delays on various routes through the westshore on June 6 and 7. See details on the Island Social Trends Traffic page.

City of Langford Engineering and City of Colwood Engineering issued traffic advisories accordingly.

dumont tirecraft, air conditioning, hot weather

Moving costs:

Portable classrooms cost about $200,000 to $250,000 each to relocate an existing portable, says Sooke School District 62 (SD62).

Cost includes more than the physical move (that of course requiring skilled handlers); once delivered there is attachment in place including stairs and ramp access, and the installation of electrical and water. And windows that break during the move need to be replaced.

Costs would include insurance coverage as well.

SD62 says that no new portables have had to be purchased for September 2024. The prefabricated additions at David Cameron Elementary (in Colwood) and Ruth King Elementary (in Langford) will in total free up seven portables. “Those will be used to accommodate growth at other schools for the 2024-25 school year,” says Kristen McGillivray, manager of strategic communications, SD62.

Budget impacts:

Moving three portables at this time eats up about three-quarters of a million dollars from the 2024-2025 school year operations budget. There’s also been what SD62 describes as a ‘government funding shortfall’ (having to do with how urban-rural population proximity to schools is calculated).

In short, the impacts of urbanizized population growth in the west shore is costing parents and families — not just the recent SD62 board decision to starting charging for school bus transportation again (that hasn’t happened since 2016) but the cutting back of school counsellors and likely various classroom-level expenses.

This year the SD62 Board passed a budget for 2024-2025 that dealt with a $2.8 million shortfall stemming primarily “from unfunded inflation pressures” including salary benefits and utilities.

Portables support population growth:

Portables accommodate student population shifts. SD62 says it presently has 53 portables in use for classroom purposes.

Each year SD62 receives about 400 more students (the population equivalent of one elementary school) as more housing is developed in the west shore region (Langford and Colwood) and also in the town of Sooke.

david cameron, sangster, sd62, route map — Portable classroom will be moved from David Cameron Elementary to Sangster Elementary on Thurs June 6, 2024. [City of Colwood map]

All three portables are being moved from one elementary school in Colwood (David Cameron) because the province has provided the addition of pre-fabricated classrooms. Growth of housing with young families continues in the west shore– in the Langford area and various parts of Colwood including the large planned community in Royal Bay.

The total student population at this time is 12,750. For the upcoming school year the SD62 forecast is 13,065 students, says McGillivray.